Yes, and in prison!

Mark didn't respond to her words, instead was taking them in, slowly, grasping the situation. Just a few days earlier he thought he was dead, drifting in his space suit, detached from the ship, awaiting for the long **** amongst the stars.

And then he got found out, pulled into what he could only assume was a patrol ship, and then kept in completely sealed off cage until being transported in here. He didn't speak to anyone, he couldn't understand what any of these... species... that he saw was saying, he could have been just as well an animal in the cage for them.

"Well... That's a relief."

He finally said, after thinking it through.

"What? Why? You crazy? Did they fucking hit you too hard in the head, and accidentally found the brain the size of a peanut?"

Mark looked at Kaliasi while biting his lip, not wanting really to pick up that fight.

"I'm alive, in a dry place, with regularly brought, tasteless food and an almost comfortable bed. I'm not in the cage, not tortured, not treated like something weird for people to see, like in the zoo. You have those, right?"

"Zoom?"

"No, a zoo." He corrected her.

"Shoo? Who?" She responded, while failing at disguising her giggling.

Mark just shook his head and didn't say anything.

"Alright, I'm just fucking with you. Of course, we fucking have those, we're not primitives. I'm surprised that you even know what they are."

"Humans are not that terribly backwards."

Kaliasi burst out with laughter, taking her time to answer.

"Oh, really? Then tell me about your planet. Do you have one, unified government?"

"Err... No."

"Ok, then multiple counties. I assume they all work together towards preventing economic and climatic disasters?"

Mark looked away.

"... no."

"Then at least I'm sure there are no wars, you use the same language for simplicity, and your leaders are being chosen amongst the smartest or most deserving ones?"

Mark looked back.

"Ok, I get your point, I'm a primitive."

"Thank you, fucking finally admitted it! Took you a while, but don't worry, I always believed there is some - although very limited - intelligence hiding behind those cute eyes."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Cute?"

"Err..." She looked away this time, and Mark could've sworn that if she didn't have a red skin already, she would be blushing. "Slip of the tongue, primitive. Go play with some rocks, maybe you can create a fire with them."

He just responded with laughter.

"Why are you fucking laughing? Should I show you how much more we are advanced in the arts of combat?"

Mark finished laughter with a long sigh.

"It's just all pretty funny. Surreal, really."

"It fucking is." She nodded, and also lied on her bench bed. "Good on you that you know some of those more complicated words. Hopefully your tiny brain didn't fry itself while coming up with that."

Mark laughed once, and shook his head.

"By the way, do you know how long we will be here?"

"No clue." She said, but followed up instantly with: "From what I heard, it usually takes a cycle or two to process prisoners for the decontamination and hearing. But I also never heard about grouping them together, so you know, who the fuck knows."

There was a long moment of silence that followed. They both listened to some doors being opened in the distance, too far away for them to locate exactly where was it. Probably a transfer of another prisoner for the decontamination.

"What is your government like? You went through some harmonious unification, an election that set everyone together to travel to the stars and become a part of galactic community?"

Kaliasi exploded with laughter, and it was so violent, she fell from the bench bed on the ground, and then - while still laughing - pulled herself up to lie on it again.

"I assume it's a no?"

"Fuck no. The richest motherfucker bought out everything and everyone else, and when there were no more things to buy, he looked up towards the stars and thought - I will buy that too!"